Thousands of Greek workers rally in Athens to mark May Day

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Thousands of Greek workers, mainly from various leftist parties and trade unions, rallied in the capital Athens to mark May Day.

While the main body of the demonstration was made up of the major trade union PAME and the Greek Communist Party (KKE), other leftist parties, including main opposition SYRIZA and former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis’ MeRA25 party and PASOK-KINAL, also took part, along with numerous other associations, rights groups, and unions.

A demonstration in the central Syntagma Square started with Greek poet Vassilis Kolovos reading out Don’t Speak, a poem by late Turkish writer Aziz Nesin.

Speaking at the rally, KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumpas and PAME senior official George Perros decried the worsening living conditions of the working class amid the cost of living crisis and called for a more united struggle of the workers.

The participation of French trade union representatives was noteworthy. Delivering a speech at the square, French trade unionist Olivier Mato emphasized the need for a pan-European struggle of the working class.

Also on Monday, tram and metro workers as well as maritime workers, including ship crews and port employees, are on a 24-hour strike.

There were also other demonstrations marking May Day in various other cities across Greece, including Patra, Thessaloniki, Larissa, and Heraklion.​​​​​​​